Go Back to the Beginning: Career Development and the Challenges of Transitioning from the Military to Civilian Employment

Abstract

This chapter examines the transition challenges facing military personnel to moving to civilian employment, a major issue for nations like the USA that have large armed forces. For such personnel, they seek to establish a career after a period of service and often without the credentials required for existing or future job vacancies. This chapter discusses the challenges of career transition from military to civilian employment, largely in the context of the US-based literature. The chapter proceeds to outline the range of obstacles to transition and then considers remedial measures to support transition ranging from pre transition to post transition support programs.

Transactive memory systems mediation role in the relationship between motivation and internal knowledge transfers in a military environment

“…Long information cycles in military academies inculcate and strengthen a common culture and values, which include high levels of trust and cohesiveness based on shared memory and attitudes (Dornbusch, 1955), including devotion to service and mission, stoicism (emotional constraint), the importance of submitting to the chain of command (Weiss and Coll, 2011) and a sense of responsibility, honor, loyalty and commitment to colleagues, unit and nation. These values differ from the values of the society in general such as materialism, individualism and other more libertarian values (Bahtic et al, 2020). All of these factors lead clearly to a common corporate identity, which is further reinforced during the time in service (Moss et al, 2015).…”

“…We must also take into account that the military worker has a different worker profile based on a sense of responsibility, honor, loyalty, commitment to colleagues, unity, nation, etc. Bahtic et al (2020), which may differ from that of a business organization.…”